Saturday, September 3, 2011

Training A Puppy Can Be Enjoyable For The Entire Household

By Donald C. Hill


Bringing a new puppy home is such an exciting event for everybody! The whole family gathers around and dotes on their cute and cuddly new companion. Then something happens. The new puppy goes and pees on the carpet. Suddenly you realize that training a puppy is the price you have to pay for having a puppy in your home.

Many people find toilet training a puppy to be a frustrating and maddening experience, but it needn't be. If you educate yourself about dogs and their behavior, you can learn how to train your dog without causing either the puppy or yourself too much anxiety.

All animals are born with certain instincts. Other things they have to learn. Dogs have a natural instinct to relieve themselves out of doors, away from their den. This is why your puppy will show distress before it makes its little "mistake" on your carpet. It knows that something is wrong, but doesn't have a clear idea about where the right place is to go.

Your puppy will be instinctively hesitant to relieve itself inside the house, but will not be able to control itself. It will sniff around the house, trying to find the place where others relieve themselves before it finally gives up and does it on the floor. It is important not to punish it for this, because it hasn't done anything wrong. It is just as important to teach it that the place it chose is not the right place and to show it where the right place is.

Do not teach it by punishment. Rubbing its nose in the poo and yelling at the dog aren't going to do any good at all. Instead, remove the waste and take it outside, where it belongs. Leave it there so the puppy can sniff out its location the next time. Clean the area indoors where the puppy relieved itself and remove all traces of odor using an appropriate cleaning solution.

Now you will have to keep an eye on your puppy and catch it before it goes, rather than after. You will easily notice the signs of distress and the times it needs to go. Take it outside as soon as it is clear that it is time. After the puppy has "done its duty, " offer it a reward and an encouraging pat. Let it know that you, the leader of the pack, approve of its good behavior.

By nature, dogs are pack animals. While their charms may be hard to resist, the puppy must learn who is boss early in life or it may grow up thinking it is the boss and be very hard to train later in life. Dogs, like humans, learn best by reward. Harsh punishment results in neurotic behavior in dogs just as it does in humans.

If you start training a puppy right from the beginning, you will have a much easier time of it. You and you dog will be great companions for years to come.




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